In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, photolithography is used, where a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer”) is coated with a resist solution, and the resist film is exposed to light using a photo mask and then developed to thereby form a desired resist pattern on the substrate. Such processing is generally carried out using a substrate processing apparatus having a light exposure device connected to a coating and developing device used for coating of the resist solution and developing.
In order to reduce the area occupied by the apparatus while ensuring high throughput, the substrate processing apparatus is configured such that different kinds of processing, such as coating, developing, and heating/cooling, are performed on a substrate using separate units, and a required number of such units for each processing are incorporated in the apparatus. Transfer means for loading/unloading a substrate to/from each process unit is also provided.
An example of such a substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to a configuration of Patent Document 1. In FIG. 16, 11 represents a carrier stage 11 to/from which a carrier 10 containing 25 wafers W, for example, is loaded/unloaded. For example, three process blocks 12A, 12B, 12C are connected to carrier stage 11, and a light exposure device 12E is connected to the third process block 12C via an interface block 12D. Process blocks 12A, 12B, 12C include transfer means 13A, 13B, 13C, respectively, at the centers, and around the means, first and second process blocks 12A, 12B have coating units 14A, 14B, respectively, for coating a wafer with a coating solution, third process block 12C has a developing unit 15 for performing developing of the wafer after exposure to light, and all process blocks 12A-12C include shelf units 16A-16G provided with heating unit, cooling unit, delivery unit and others for performing prescribed heating or cooling processing on the wafer before or after the processing by coating unit 14 or developing unit 15.
In this apparatus, the wafers in carrier 10 on carrier stage 11 are taken out by a delivery arm 17, and transferred via a delivery unit of shelf unit 16A to first process block 12A, and then sequentially transferred to unoccupied process units in first and second process blocks 12A, 12B in a prescribed order to be subjected to the coating processing of the resist solution, and then transferred via process block 12C and interface block 12D to light exposure device 12E, where prescribed light exposure processing is performed. Thereafter, the wafers are again transferred to unoccupied process units in third process block 12C in a prescribed order to be subjected to the developing processing. Before and after the coating and developing processing, heating and cooling processing is carried out in unoccupied process units. Here, delivery of the wafers between first process block 12A and second process block 12B, between second process block 12B and third process block 12C, and between third process block 12C and interface block 12D is carried out via delivery units of shelf units 16C, 16E and 16G, respectively.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-124124 (see FIG. 2)